Participants in the Top Trader challenge are presented with a £1 million fantasy budget and invited to build a market-beating portfolio.

Players are equipped with breaking news and analytical tools, including trend-spotting heat maps, an in-depth Search tool for users to dig deeper into a company's recent trade history, and share price tracking and alert mechanisms.

A social networking facility also acts as a virtual squawk box, where users can share strategies, monitor tips and network with other traders.

The online competition has been running for five weeks, with mini-prizes awarded to the top performing portfolio each week. As the competition enters its final week, the £1000 prize will be awarded to the trader that accrues the highest percentage gain from competition start date, or from date of registration.

To compete, traders must be verified as a registered student at a university located in the UK or Ireland.

The site has already attracted hundreds of players, although the big-money prize looks likely to go down to a head-to-head between the top two in the rankings who have outpaced their rivals and are so far showing eye-watering returns of 102% and 96% on their initial £1 million stakes.